GSBS Student Publications
Title
Structural mechanism of WASP activation by the enterohaemorrhagic E. coli effector EspF(U)
UMMS Affiliation
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Date
7-25-2008
Document Type
Article
Medical Subject Headings
Actins; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Carrier Proteins; Cells, Cultured; Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli Proteins; Fibroblasts; Mice; Models, Molecular; Molecular Sequence Data; Protein Structure, Tertiary; Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein; Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein, Neuronal
Disciplines
Life Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences
Abstract
During infection, enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) takes over the actin cytoskeleton of eukaryotic cells by injecting the EspF(U) protein into the host cytoplasm. EspF(U) controls actin by activating members of the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP) family. Here we show that EspF(U) binds to the autoinhibitory GTPase binding domain (GBD) in WASP proteins and displaces it from the activity-bearing VCA domain (for verprolin homology, central hydrophobic and acidic regions). This interaction potently activates WASP and neural (N)-WASP in vitro and induces localized actin assembly in cells. In the solution structure of the GBD-EspF(U) complex, EspF(U) forms an amphipathic helix that binds the GBD, mimicking interactions of the VCA domain in autoinhibited WASP. Thus, EspF(U) activates WASP by competing directly for the VCA binding site on the GBD. This mechanism is distinct from that used by the eukaryotic activators Cdc42 and SH2 domains, which globally destabilize the GBD fold to release the VCA. Such diversity of mechanism in WASP proteins is distinct from other multimodular systems, and may result from the intrinsically unstructured nature of the isolated GBD and VCA elements. The structural incompatibility of the GBD complexes with EspF(U) and Cdc42/SH2, plus high-affinity EspF(U) binding, enable EHEC to hijack the eukaryotic cytoskeletal machinery effectively.
Rights and Permissions
Citation: Nature. 2008 Aug 21;454(7207):1009-13. Epub 2008 Jul 23. Link to article on publisher's site
DOI of Published Version
10.1038/nature07160
Related Resources
Journal Title
Nature
PubMed ID
18650809
Repository Citation
Cheng, Hui-Chun; Skehan, Brian M.; Campellone, Kenneth Geno; Leong, John M.; and Rosen, Michael K., "Structural mechanism of WASP activation by the enterohaemorrhagic E. coli effector EspF(U)" (2008). GSBS Student Publications. 1547.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/gsbs_sp/1547